WEST POINT, N.Y. — President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he will send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next summer and begin withdrawing forces in July 2011.
Addressing the nation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Obama drew on the weight of war he has felt as commander in chief and on the national-security interests at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan to explain his decision to escalate the 8-year-old conflict and to begin leaving it before his term ends. He warned bluntly that “huge challenges remain.”
“Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years it has moved backwards,” he said. “In short, the status quo is not sustainable.”
Obama concluded a three-month review of war strategy by placing extraordinary confidence in a strained U.S. military and applying fresh pressure on the uncertain government of President Hamid Karzai to reform itself in months rather than years.
The 30,000 additional U.S. troops amount to most of what Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, requested in August. But by setting a date for when he will begin removing U.S. forces, scheduled to number about 100,000 by next summer, Obama is effectively holding McChrystal to the urgent timeline he laid out in his bleak assessment of the situation.
Obama’s escalation of the war effort and presentation of an exit strategy reflect the divisions that emerged within his administration during the strategy review and the difficult politics he faces in selling his plan at home and abroad.
Under fire
As details of his plan emerged Tuesday, some Republicans accused Obama of aiding the Taliban insurgency by setting a date to begin a withdrawal, even though administration officials said the pace will be determined by the country’s security and political stability. Democrats criticized Obama for an expensive, if time-limited, expansion of an unpopular conflict at a time of economic hardship at home.
The president spoke for about 40 minutes to an audience of cadets gathered at Eisenhower Hall on this historic campus on the banks of the Hudson River. Many of those in attendance will deploy to Afghanistan as part of Obama’s escalation, and they received his speech with a mix of solemn silence and polite applause. Seventy-three West Point graduates have died in battle since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Obama’s audience extended beyond the hall to include a skeptical American public, reluctant allies abroad, a weak government in Pakistan, and an Afghan population waiting to see whether international forces or the Taliban will win the war.
Rising death toll
Only a minority of Americans believe the battle remains worth fighting, according to recent opinion polls, and Obama’s decision to rapidly deploy tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops and his appeal to NATO allies for more will sharply intensify the conflict in the coming months.
More than 920 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion that toppled the Taliban, and the pace of combat deaths has accelerated this year with Obama’s earlier decision to send an additional 22,000 forces, along with 11,000 that administration officials say were authorized by Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush. So far this year, 298 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan, surpassing the 155 killed there last year.
In his assessment of the conflict, McChrystal wrote that the war probably would be won or lost in the next 18 months. Senior administration officials emphasized that July 2011 — about 18 months from when the first batch of additional U.S. troops will arrive in Afghanistan — will mark the start of the U.S. withdrawal.
Administration officials have said that while the Taliban cannot be eliminated as a military and political force, the goal is to weaken the movement to the extent that it cannot threaten the central government or provide sanctuary for al-Qaeda.
Obama is essentially gambling that Karzai, who was re-elected last month by default, will feel more pressure to reform the nation and that the Taliban will not simply wait out the U.S. military presence.
“Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground,” Obama said. “But it will be clear to the Afghan government — and, more importantly, to the Afghan people — that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.”
Obama appealed to NATO allies, which will be asked to contribute at least 5,000 additional troops to the war. “We must come together to end this war successfully,” he said.
Key components of the Afghanistan plan
• President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. That’s three of the four brigades requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal and raises the U.S. total there to about 100,000.
• The new troops will begin arriving in greater numbers and faster than under the original McChrystal request, administration officials said. The first Marines will begin arriving as early as Christmas, and all forces will be in place by May.
• The extra U.S. troops will begin coming home in July 2011. Obama set no further schedule for withdrawals and no target date for ending the war.
• The troops’ mission will be to seize the initiative against a resurgent Taliban while building the capacity of Afghan forces so that American and NATO forces can gradually hand off security responsibilities to the Afghans. Also, the troops will support the further development of the Afghan economy and key Afghan civilian institutions.
• The troop buildup will cost $30 billion for the first year alone, coming atop nearly $1 trillion already spent in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
